These projects in the kits make great a party activity and fun handmade gifts.

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For this shrink plastic project, I chose the BFF Shrinky Dinks Kit.

The one thing this kit does not tell you is that there is a smooth and a rough (sanded) side to the pre-cut Shrinky Dinks designs. Make sure to color on the rough side of the designs, as coloring on the smooth side could cause your design to rub off.

The BFF Jewelry Shrinky Dinks Kit that I chose had all of the designs, supplies, and instruction book you see below.

The colored pencils that came with the kit are very nice. I also like to decorate shrinky dinks with Sharpie markers. They come in a great range of colors (including metallic) and do a great job coloring the shrink plastic. They are easily found at art stores, office supply stores and we sell them on this website too.

I colored some of the designs with pencils.

Some of the designs I colored with Sharpie brand markers.

The colored Shrink plastic pieces are then placed on a baking sheet (with parchment paper, tin foil, or wax paper on the sheet) and then placed inside a toaster oven.

The toaster oven is set at 350'F for about 5-7 minutes. You need to keep an eye on your designs.

As the Shrinky Dinks heat up they will curl up and then flatten.

As soon as the designs have flattened you will remove them from the toaster oven. If you leave them in the toaster oven after they have flattened you can burn them and then the designs are ruined.

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You can also use a regular oven. Set the oven for 350'F, set the Shrinky Dinks designs onto a baking sheet with baking paper, wax paper, or tin foil on the baking sheet.

Set a timer for 5 to 7 minutes, the Shrinky Dinks may not use that whole time.

Make sure to watch the shrink plastic designs as they heat and shrink. Remember that once the designs have flattened back down on the backing sheet it is time to remove them from the oven.

Here is the heart shape mid bake.

The curl you see in the image above is normal. It will do this before flattening out again. Once you see it go flat you know it is done and ready to remove from the oven.

Make sure to let the designs cool before you begin to assemble them with the remaining items from the kit.

The butterfly below was colored with Sharpie markers. The so sweet design was colored in with the colored pencils that came with the kit. Both coloring styles turned out great.

To open a split ring, pinch it between two fingers from both of your hands, and move your two sets of pinched fingers in opposite directions. It only takes a little pressure to accomplish this.

Slip the charm onto the split ring. Close the split ring the same way you opened it, only move the pinched sides together until the jump ring closes.

Thread the string through the hole on the charms or through the split ring the charms are on.

There is a wonderful knot that helps a piece of string become expandable and retractable (to make the bracelet or necklace longer or smaller).

It is called a true loves knot. You make a square knot onto the opposite end of the string, pull the knot tight, repeat this on the other side of the string.

If you have long ends to your knots, cut off enough to leave a small tail on the knot (short enough not to tickle your wrist too much).

Pulling on the string will expand the bracelet. Pulling on the knots will tighten the bracelet (or necklace).

The bracelet turned out great and was enjoyed by the young lady I gifted it to.